Sickle Cellular Adaptation

Improved Essays
Over the generations, ancestors evolved different allele frequencies due to recurring natural selection. In fact, natural selection and mutation were considered the main hypotheses for the sickle gene cell. However, those hypotheses limit in explaining the entirety for the frequency of the HbS allele in human populations around the globe. The complex relationship between the HbS allele frequencies and the level of malaria prevalence support the malaria hypothesis at a global scale and further demonstrate why adaptation or natural selection alone cannot be the factor in explaining allele frequencies. According to Piel et. al. (2010), HbS, known as the sickle hemoglobin, is “a structural variant of normal adult hemoglobin” (p. 2). Piet et al. …show more content…
Livingstone presents the linguistic evidence for migration patterns over generations, which gives more support on the malaria hypothesis. Because of the common ancestries, languages are genetically related and possess different conditions for each groups based on their geographic regions. For example, Livingstone (1958) noted that Gambia and Sierra Leone has the highest frequencies of the sickle gene cell (p. 546). The Mande people moved in large numbers and seemed to introduce the particular gene into parts of Africa (Livingstone, 1958, p. 547). This large-scale migration led to higher frequencies of the sickle cell traits, which lends evidence about the HbS allele frequency variation. The linguistic evidence supports the West African HbS allele frequency variation because the migration pattern shows the spread of the selective advantage of the sickle cell gene. The environmental variation matters a lot especially for this case as language gives significant biological influence on the human populations. In addition, cultural development based on archeological evidence further explains how various adoption and geographic spread of agriculture technology caused exposure of high frequencies in human populations. The rice cultivation exemplifies gene flow, as it was responsible for the spread of the sickle cell gene in West Africa. According to Livingstone (1958), the relationship between the spread of the agriculture by diffusion and its frequencies exposed human populations to the parasites (p. 553). As human populations grew over time, the environmental change resulted in the “adaptation of several species of the Anopheles gambiae to human habitations and the adaptation of many parasites to man as their host” (Livingstone, 1958, p. 556). The adaptation is probably from the agricultural technology

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Essay On Hydroxyurea

    • 2261 Words
    • 10 Pages

    HBB also known as haemoglobin beta or Beta globin is 146 amino acids long that makes up most of the haemoglobin in adult humans. HBB protein is produced by the gene HBB that is located in the multigene locus of β-globin locus on chromosome 11, specifically on the short arm position 15.5[18]. Mutation in the HBB gene can lead to the formation of hemoglobin S that results in sickle cell anaemia [2]. When oxygen levels are low in the blood, a mutated form of hemoglobin (hemoglobin S aka HbS) alters the red blood cell giving it a crescent-looking shape (see figure 1.11).The abnormal crescent shape mean that red blood cell carry less oxygen, causing illnesses such as: Jaundice (yellowing of the eyes and skin), shortage of breath and pulmonary hypertension– where blood pressure in blood vessels (for example the pulmonary artery) that…

    • 2261 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Chi Square Test Lab Report

    • 2147 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Sickle cell disease is an inherited disorder that is caused by a mutation in the DNA sequences that codes for the beta chain of the hemoglobin protein. Red blood cells are, normally, flexible and round, but with the sickle cell anemia the red blood cells become sticky, rigid, and crescent shaped. The Hemoglobin protein carries oxygen in the red blood cells throughout the body. With the disease, the blood cell’s shape can cause them to get lodged in the blood vessels resulting in the obstruction of blood flow, especially in the smaller arterial vessels in the body This occurrence not only reduces oxygen content to the area of concern, but can be a very painful experience for the victim. People who inherit this disease have two abnormal hemoglobin…

    • 2147 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    He is primarily of Northern European descent--there may be an evolutionary reason as to why he got it. Malaria is common along the Mediterranean border, and people descending from those places (Italy, Turkey, Greece) grew thicker body hair as a layer of protection.3 People with a background like my uncle’s didn’t have an evolutionary need for protection against malaria. In sub-Saharan Africa, where a thick layer of hair is a disadvantage against the heat, malaria resistance sprouted up in another way. Sickle-cell anemia is a disorder that causes red blood cells to misshape. To simplify Moalem’s thesis, the bacteria causing malaria can’t thrive as well in sickle-shaped cells, and the gene got passed on as a trait.…

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    does not provide any scientific or medical data to support this statement. Honigbaum agrees with Curtin and Humphreys, as he states that Europeans saw Africans as a suitable labor force due to these real or perceived immunities. He also argues that the slave trade was responsible for the endemic nature of malaria and yellow fever in the Caribbean. Honigsbaum additionally delves into geopolitical ramifications of disease and credits the devastating influence of malaria and yellow fever on effectively hampering British intentions in the Caribbean towards Spanish holdings.…

    • 803 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Sickle Cell Trait Essay

    • 1570 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Sickle Cell Trait Twila S. Russell Virginia College NUR 2320 Professor Deandrala Huffman October 24, 2016 Sickle Cell Trait According to the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disorders, “Sickle Cell Trait (SCT) affects 1 in 12 Blacks or African Americans in the United States and about 1 out of every 100 Latinos has sickle cell trait.” (CDC.gov). SCT occurs when a person inherits a gene for sickle beta globin from one parent and a gene for normal beta-globin from the other parent. This means the person won’t have sickle cell disease, but will be a trait “carrier” and can pass it on to their children (CDC.gov).…

    • 1570 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The encounter of pathogens throughout human evolution and periods of migration results in an unfavorable relationship between the two species. As Karlsson, Kwiatkowski, and Sabeti write in their article, Natural Selection and Infectious Disease in Human Populations, it is known that the ancient relationship impacts pathogenic tendencies within humans today. In the article, the authors visit the genetics of various infectious and dangerous diseases, as well as common and less threatening diseases within the human species. They also look at geographical origin of various human pathogens, as well as a historical timeline of pathogenic introduction into humans. The authors introduce the article by discussing host genetics and their susceptibility to pathogens depending on their make up.…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Somehow millions of humans have evolved with a genetic trait that is likely to cause problems when they eat something that is most common to their diet. It turns out that there are some benefits to G6PD deficiency for this to be possible. Biologist scientist J. B. S. Haldane proposed in his studies that different environments impose different evolutionary pressures that help the species to survive. In this part of the world, malaria is a threat to human survival. When a person with favism have red blood cells that are more fragile and hostile, turning them into an unfriendly environment for the malaria parasite to thrive.…

    • 1565 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ancient Kent

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages

    According to the Monogenetic theory, it is evident that mankind is born in Africa in or around the area of Kenya throughout South Africa. All origins, languages, cultures, and customs can be traced back to Africa with everyone sharing the same language and way of life. Dr. Diop’s…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Barrett, Julia. " Sickle cell anemia. " The Gale Encyclopedia of Science, edited by K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, 5th ed. , Gale, 2014. Science in Context, ic.galegroup.com/ic/scic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?disableHighlighting=true&displayGroupName=Reference&currPage=&scanId=&query=&search_within_results=&p=SCIC&mode=view&catId=GALE%7CAAA000056482&limiter=&display-query=&displayGroups=&contentModules=&action=e&sortBy=&documentId=GALE%7CCV2644032025&windowstate=normal&activityType=&failOverType=&commentary=&source=Bookmark&u=pioneer&jsid=ed6b30a61ca65e320bc0a45224519e22.…

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    1) Natural Selection: is the process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. 2) This can be seen in a modern example of natural selection where: Resistance to antibiotics is increased through the survival of individuals that are: o immune to the effects of the antibiotic o whose offspring then inherit the resistance, creating a new population of resistant bacteria. Thus, natural selection constantly removes those genetic alleles that even slightly decrease average reproductive success.…

    • 1223 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Health Disparity

    • 267 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the United States, the chance of the diagnosing an African American man with sickle cell anemia is quite significantly higher when compared to men, women, and children of other groups. The health disparity is one that is without doubt classified to be prevalent among the black populace. The fact that the health issue tends to lean on one side of a group is an interesting aspect that demands a lot of research to get an understanding of the reasons for this. What is the reason for the selectiveness in presence of the disease?…

    • 267 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Hominin Evolution Theory

    • 1736 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Through research, there is little evidence against the theory of “Out of Africa.” According to Dr. Katarina Harvatia, the genetic diversity of the species who left Africa wouldn’t have evolved as quickly as timeline presents which goes against the theory of “Out of Africa.” (Harvatia, Mysterious…

    • 1736 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Traditionally we divide ourselves into races by the twin criteria of geographical location and visible physical characteristics. But we could make an equally reasonable and arbitrary division by the presence of absence of a gene, such as the sickle-cell gene, that confers resistance to malaria. By this reckoning. We’d place Yemenites, Greeks, New Guineans, Thai, and Dinkas in one “race,” Norwegian and several black African people in another” a Quote from Jared Diamond (1994:191) that explains how humans can be characterized in different races by some arbitrary category decided by someone. Other ways to classify humans into different race groups might be by the type of fingerprint left, the existence of a particular gene, a geographical location,…

    • 1138 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mitochondrial DNA analysis (mtDNA) and Y Chromosomal analysis could be avenues of finding definitive answers about the migration and evolution of hominids and early humans. Mitochondrial DNA analysis was the basis for the Out of Africa Theory because the DNA suggested that modern humans evolved from a “Mitochondrial Eve” about 150,000 years ago, and modern humans began to disperse between 35,000 and 89,000 years ago. Although mitochondrial DNA is a valid way to look at lineages, the time periods that this analysis produces does not match the fossil record’s establishment of dispersal out of Africa being around 1.8 million years ago and a second dispersal around 650,000 years ago. This discrepancy could again invalidate the Out of Africa Theory, but an examination of the Y chromosome could also support this…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Migration Waves

    • 1715 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Indian subcontinent has served as a major corridor for the genetic diversity of its inhabitants. Modern-day human population dispersal routes is punctuated with delineating migrations that eventually led anatomically modern humans (AMH) to spread over most parts of the world within the past 100,000 years (Cavalli- Sforza, Menozzi and Piazza 1994; Lahr and Foley 1994). Migration waves are influenced by landscape traversed and thus, natural inter continental passageways acting as corridors played a key-role in the evolutionary history of human population migration events. Mitochondrial DNA polymorphism (mtDNA, Y chromosome markers (Cordaux et al., 2004), microsatellites (Belle and Barbujani 2007) and autosomal genes (Wang et al.,1998) are…

    • 1715 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays